Tag Archives: White Bear Theatre

This Story of Yours – 3 Stars

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Yours

 This Story of Yours

White Bear Theatre

Reviewed –  12th January 2018

★★★

“Brian Merry gives a sincere impression of Johnson, a middle-aged, troubled, burned-out policeman”

 

Time and Tide Theatre Company present the 50th anniversary of John Hopkins’s first stage play, This Story of Yours. This harrowing three-act play charts the emotional collapse of Detective Sergeant Johnson and questions what working in law enforcement does to our souls. The play starts in a warm suburban living room filled with furniture. The setting works very well. There’s a sofa, drinks cabinet, lamp and record player, all reflecting a well put together middle-class household. 

A living room is typically the place where a couple would assemble for the night and maybe listen to an old record, Johnson and Maureen don’t even get to finish one whole song before an argument ensues. 

Actor Brian Merry gives a sincere impression of Johnson, a middle-aged, troubled, burned-out policeman. Having been exposed to sights of death and destruction for twenty years on the force, Johnson is on the edge of madness. Merry takes extraordinary care in considering every detail and gesture, from Johnson’s nervous ticks and twitches to his sudden bursts of energy. Emma Reade-Davies, who understated and so beautifully natural in her portrayal of Maureen, presents a wife worried her husband is hiding something from her.

During their toxic encounter it’s revealed that earlier on that night Johnson interviewed Baxter (David Sayers), a man suspected of abducting and murdering a young girl. Baxter got beneath Johnson’s skin and it ultimately ended in a brawl. Soon after confessing to his wife, Johnson is grilled by Chief Inspector Cartwright (William Hayes) who enters swaggering with a cigar ready to light. The stage opens up and the lights dim giving the impression of an interrogation cell, except there’s no need for a bright lamp to be focused on Johnson. He’s already frightened. After a few questions Cartwright, like Maureen, becomes alarmed by Johnson’s erratic and unstable behaviour.

The piece concludes with Act Three, a flashback of the incident, where the audience actually get to see what happened and the parallels between Johnson and Baxter. Is Johnson a man with sadistic impulses or was he at the end of his tether?

In all three acts, the pressures exerted on Johnson lead to violent outbursts of aggression. The fights staged by Toby Spearpoint, although authentic, leave the audience impatient rather than reeling in horror. Not much is left to our imagination. However, it should be said all the cast give starkly naturalistic and well-sustained performances.

 

Reviewed by Chloe Cordell

Photography by Lesley Cook Headshots

 


This Story of Yours

White Bear Theatre until 27th January

 

 

Click here to see more of our latest reviews on thespyinthestalls.com

 

 

Review of Sweet Fanny Adams – 3 Stars

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Fanny

Sweet Fanny Adams

White Bear Theatre

Reviewed – 20th December 2017

★★★

“plenty of clever moments of dialogue throughout”

 

Jack and Emily are an alcoholic couple stuck in a rut. Jack is a playwright with writer’s block, although he repeatedly denies its existence, whilst Emily is an actress without a part. In the living room of Jack’s apartment, as he attempts to complete his next great work, they verbally abuse and belittle each other for their failings as artists and lovers.

Sweet Fanny Adams is an original work written by Matthew Lyons, who performed the frustrated Jack alongside Edie Newman as Emily. After a slightly nervous start, Newman’s Emily quickly relaxed into the part, giving the initially unlikable character a softer, more palatable side. Although she seemed to despise him most of the time, Newman portrayed a sense of vulnerability and insecurity which kept pulling her back to Jack. A similar variance in tone felt lacking from Lyons’ performance, as Jack was consistently mean and self-involved. Context from each character’s youth was introduced as if to explain their behaviour – for Jack an alcoholic father and suicidal mother and Emily an abusive father. However, the flippant way this was revealed (as jibes at one another) felt heavy handed and abrupt, and was not revisited in greater depth until much later in the dialogue.

The constant oscillation between malignance and affection was often abrupt; more than once as their bitter arguments came to a climax, Emily simply left the room, only to come back seconds later with a full glass of wine or a new bottle and move on without resolve. The piece was self-aware of moments of melodrama, but the acknowledgement often came frustratingly late, to the point where I couldn’t be sure whether action was sincere or later to be ridiculed.

There were plenty of clever moments of dialogue throughout that provided respite from the couple’s dismal outlook and an unexpectedly sweet ending lifts the piece. After all the vitriol and malice, we are left with a seed of hope.

 

Reviewed by Amber Woodward

 

Sweet Fanny Adams

is at the White Bear Theatre until 23rd December

 

 

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